By JONATHAN GREENE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Mitch Estep-coached teams aren’t known for passing.

However, his River View Raiders have thrown for more than 1,600 yards behind quarterback Jacob Muncy.

“First of all, the nature of the game has gone that way,” Estep said. “A lot of teams run the spread now. You have to have a quarterback with talent and receivers who can catch the ball and we have good skills guys in the backfield.

“We have guys that can catch and he can throw. Our guys have the athletic ability and he’s got a great bunch of guys around him. We can be two dimensional on offense and that’s a rarity in high school football.”

Muncy took full advantage of his opportunities last week against then fourth-ranked Westside throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns to this week’s Pocahontas Coal Association/ Bluefield Daily Telegraph Player of the Week honors.

“We started off hot,” Muncy said of River View’s performance in their 48-40 loss. “Then we kind of stalled out in the middle. We couldn’t get anything to work.

“As the game went on, I still felt like we had chance. I tried to keep everyone fired up in the huddle and then everything seemed to click. Even when plays weren’t there I scrambled to make time and would find someone open.”

On the year, the senior signal caller has thrown for 1,606 yards and 19 touchdowns. If you would have told him he’d have that many yards before the season he would have been shocked, because the Raiders weren’t known for passing.

“It’s been a surprise. A big surprise,” Muncy said. “I figured I’d hand the ball off 40 times a game and maybe throw it 7 times. Big shock.”

Not Estep, who knew the talent Muncy had and the players who surrounded him.

“He’s been pretty solid most of the year,” Estep said. “Jacob’s got some real good receivers to go to. We’ve been fortunate to have enough athletes to take some pressure off him.

“All those guys contribute to his success and he’d want me to say that. He’s hung in there, paid his dues and waited his time. He’s taking advantage of his opportunity.”

He has plenty of weapons at his disposal with wideout Leshon Benton who had a player of the week worthy 186 yards receiving against Westside and a touchdown as his favorite target. In the backfield, six different rushers have more than 200 yards led by Trey Bailey’s 538 yards and eight touchdowns.

“Honestly, it’s a present as quarterback,” Muncy said. “It’s a luxury to hand the ball to some who can get 100 yards in a night. There are dynamic guys on the outside who can out run somebody deep or Trey can run over top of somebody.

“It’s definitely a luxury. You don’t have to put to much pressure on yourself with all the weapons.”

Behind those standouts, River View is making its second-straight trip to the postseason in as many years of existence. The Raiders visit Ravenswood on Friday night.

“Nobody expected it to work right off,” Muncy said. “To me, it’s exciting. It’s playoff football and it could be our last game.

“We have to leave it all on the field. Play 100 percent every snap. There’s a lot of pressure, but it’s exciting.”

River View took the field for the first time last year after Big Creek and Iaegar were consolidated.

“Like everybody in the beginning, I wasn’t sure how it would go,” Muncy said. “But that wasn’t an issue, because we became best friends quick.

“Right on the spot. It’s real easy to be teammates on the field when you have your best friend beside you.”

Having guys such as Muncy who Estep described as having a “concern for others”, it was no wonder the Raiders were able to come together so quickly.

“It’s never bout him,” Estep said of Muncy. “It’s about the team. He just goes out and does his job. He does the best he can and wants to improve each week.”

Muncy and his River View teammates hit the road for their Class AA playoff opener Friday against Ravenswood as they look to continue their season and make a run at a state title.

“To me, I think we can compete with and beat anybody if we limit our mistakes and tighten up on defense,” Muncy said. “That’s been a weakness of late, stopping the run and the pass. It all comes down to taking care of the ball.

“We’ll go as far as we want to go.”

— Contact Jonathan Greene at jgreene@bdtonline.com

HONORABLE MENTION

Bluefield (54-3 loss, Wayne): Justin Carter, 99 yards passing; Brad Fox, 51 yards receiving; Justin Mariotti, 41 FG.

Giles (21-17 win, Radford): Brad Kessinger, 24-129, 2 td rush, 45 yards pass; Ethan Mitchell, 23-102 rush.

Graham (35-7 win, Narrows): Aderrius Jackson, 9-73 rushing, td; Spencer Sheets, 3-3, 110 yards passing, td.

Grundy (27-24 win, Mount View): Josh McCowan, 2 td rush.

Haysi (36-18 loss, Honaker): Zack Owens, 3 td pass; Dakota Stanley, 2 td catch

Honaker (36-18 win, Haysi): Jerod Honaker, 27-163, 1 td rush; Ty Hall, 9-11, 129 yards, 3 td pass, 1 td run; Jeremiah Dye, 25-86, 2 td catch.

Hurley (42-21 win, Twin Valley): Austin Cooper, 17-25, 247 yards, 3 td passing; Tyler Berglowe, 18-105, 3 td rush, 61 yards, 1 td catch.

Mount View (27-24 loss, Grundy): Trey Huckleberry, 1 td kr (90), 1 td catch (94); Teddy Hazzard, 3 td passes; Maurice Brown, 2 td catch.

Narrows (35-7 loss, Graham): Wyatt Robertson, 17-72 rushing, td.

Richlands (69-18 win, Tazewell): Reece Strong, 4-7, 145, 3 td pass, 9 extra point kicks; Devon Johnson, 8-123 rushing, 3 td; Sam Lawson, td catch, kick return td.

River View (48-40 loss, Westside): Leshon Benton, 7-186 receiving, td; Jordan Wilson, 10-119 rushing, td rush, 3-36 receivinig, td; Joseph McClanahan, 11-66 rushing, 2 td; Chad Franklin, 4-70 receiving, td.

Summers County (28-10 loss, Valley-Fayette): Jesse Howersheldt, 22-53 rush, 4-22 1 td catch.

Tazewell (69-18 loss, Riclands): Andrew Murray, 63 yard td run (high snap on field goal attempt).